Chapter 146. Those Who Move (4)
Lord Jegal Geum?
Why were these people suddenly mentioning his name?
Don’t tell me...
Come to think of it, Lee Sion had once told him about this.
Jegal Geum had gone to China in the past to train and had ended up hunting a dragon together with several Chinese Contractors.
The martial robe currently stored in Kang Yujin’s Inventory had been made using scales from that dragon.
“Kid, can’t you answer?”
The elderly woman pressed her foot harder against Kang Yujin’s shoulder as she asked.
But Kang Yujin kept his mouth shut and immediately drew up his internal energy.
"...!"
He twisted his body using the principle behind a point-blank [Fa Jin].
The three people pinning him down were flung away.
No...
perhaps they had simply moved away on their own.
“Hmm. You’ve got some decent strength.”
“Very lively!”
“Impudent brat!”
The three elders raised their voices from a short distance away.
However, Kang Yujin could feel no killing intent from them.
Once he became certain they hadn’t come to harm him, he spoke.
“Are you the Black Dragon Society’s Three Venerables?”
“That’s right.”
All three nodded.
“I am the Demon Venerable.”
The old man who introduced himself as the Demon Venerable looked the oldest of the three.
Even so, his eyes were sharp, and his build was comparable to that of a much younger man.
“And this body is the Sword Venerable!”
The elder who called himself the Sword Venerable looked younger than the Demon Venerable.
He wore a cheerful expression that almost seemed youthful, though an eyepatch covered one eye.
“And I am the Fist Venerable.”
The only woman among the three was the Fist Venerable.
At a glance, her lithe figure hardly looked different from that of a young woman.
But the wrinkles covering her face revealed the years she had lived.
“We heard about you from Liu Xianfei.”
The Demon Venerable looked at Kang Yujin with a cool expression.
“No. In truth, we’d heard rumors even before that.”
“That Jegal Geum’s disciple had been accomplishing remarkable things in Korea.”
“You knew Lord Jegal Geum?”
“Of course.”
The Demon Venerable nodded.
“Eight years ago, Jegal Geum fought alongside us here in China.”
As expected...
So these were probably the Contractors who had hunted the dragon with Jegal Geum.
“At the time, Jegal Geum was torn between staying in China and returning to Korea.”
The Demon Venerable continued.
“But in the end... he returned.”
“Tch. It still pisses me off.”
The Sword Venerable scratched his beard and frowned.
“If he’d stayed here, he would’ve become famous across the entire continent. Instead, he struggled away in that tiny country until he finally...”
“Sword Venerable. Enough.”
The Fist Venerable cut him off coldly.
“Must you insult Jegal Geum in front of his disciple?”
“Fist Venerable, I wasn’t trying to insult him...”
The Sword Venerable looked uncomfortable.
“I’m saying it because it’s a shame. Look at how things ended.”
“Regardless.”
The Fist Venerable sighed and turned toward Kang Yujin.
“It’s good to finally meet you.”
“You’re happy to meet me, so you ambushed me?”
“Ambushed you? Don’t make me laugh.”
The Fist Venerable snorted.
“You were the one who attacked us, weren’t you? We were merely standing beside you, waiting until you woke up, when you suddenly sprang to your feet and charged at us.”
"..."
Were these old geezers messing with him?
Kang Yujin was about to complain when a voice came from behind.
“My, is that what happened?”
Daji had appeared again out of nowhere.
“I could have sworn I heard you whispering things like, ‘How should we teach this brat a lesson and establish dominance? Maybe we should throw a blanket over him and beat him senseless.’”
“You insolent fox...!”
The Fist Venerable glared at Daji.
The Demon Venerable and Sword Venerable did the same.
“How dare you show yourself here?”
“We ignored you because you were staying quiet, and now you dare interfere?”
“My, would you like to try me?”
Daji covered her mouth and smiled seductively at their angry reactions.
“If you insist, I’d be happy to play with you, little babies.”
“You vixen...!”
“Want us to tear you apart right here and turn you into jerky?!”
Considering Daji was a three-thousand-year-old yao, calling them babies wasn’t technically strange.
No matter how old the Three Venerables were, none of them could possibly be over a hundred.
“Enough.”
Kang Yujin stepped between them.
This argument would only waste time.
“Daji, stay back for a bit.”
“Yes, all right.”
Apparently having no serious intention of joining the dispute, Daji shrugged and stepped away.
“In any case, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Hmm. Likewise.”
The Demon Venerable stroked his long beard and nodded.
“We didn’t come here with hostile intentions.”
“We merely wanted to observe you, so I hope you won’t take it badly.”
“Understood.”
“Right. You said you wanted to meet us?”
“Ah, yes.”
“As it happens, we also wanted to speak with you.”
“With me?”
“Yes.”
The Demon Venerable stared at Kang Yujin seriously.
“How did Jegal Geum die?”
"..."
The Sword Venerable and Fist Venerable also wore serious expressions.
So this was why they had rushed over to meet someone they had never even seen before.
“This could take a while. Is that all right?”
There was still alcohol left behind from the women who had visited the previous night.
He supposed he could serve that while they talked.
“So that’s how he died.”
“Sounds exactly like him...”
"..."
After Kang Yujin finished telling the story, the three elders sat on the living room sofa and sighed.
“From what you’ve told us... he suffered far more than we realized before the end.”
“The three of us always had each other, so we never faced too many serious difficulties.”
“But Jegal Geum struggled alone in Korea.”
“If we’d known things would turn out like this, perhaps we should have supported him through the Black Dragon Society.”
They mourned not only Jegal Geum’s death, but also the hardships he had endured.
Even though eight years had passed since they last met, their sense of camaraderie toward him seemed unchanged.
“I’m sorry.”
“Hmm? Why are you apologizing?”
“My lack of strength is why Lord Jegal Geum had to sacrifice himself.”
If Kang Yujin hadn’t been struck by Keito’s Brahmastra, Jegal Geum would never have needed to sacrifice himself.
“Kang Yujin, you’re thinking about this the wrong way.”
The Fist Venerable spoke.
“Jegal Geum probably intended to pass his internal energy to you from the beginning.”
“Even if it hadn’t happened then, it would have happened someday.”
"..."
“You defeated Saionji Keito and achieved the victory Jegal Geum wanted.”
“At that moment, you repaid everything you owed him.”
The Fist Venerable looked directly at Kang Yujin.
“So you have no reason to apologize to us.”
“Understood.”
When Kang Yujin bowed his head, the Fist Venerable smiled.
“Hmm. Still, I’m a little curious.”
“About what?”
“Your skill.”
She leaned back.
“We’ve only heard about it. We haven’t seen it for ourselves.”
Then she turned her head toward the Sword Venerable, who had been guzzling alcohol.
“Sword Venerable!”
“Why are you calling me?”
“I want to see what this brat can do. Fight him once.”
“Why are you telling me to do it?”
The Sword Venerable looked dumbfounded.
“He specializes in fists, doesn’t he? You’re the Fist Venerable, so you should fight him.”
“Stop complaining.”
“You’re just afraid Kang Yujin will beat you up and embarrass you, aren’t you? And you call yourself the Fist Venerable... Ow!”
The Fist Venerable kicked him in the rear.
The Sword Venerable grimaced and stood.
“There was some kind of training room over there. Let’s go.”
“All right.”
Kang Yujin followed without objection.
He had wanted to meet the Three Venerables because he was curious about how they fought anyway.
He had been most curious about the Fist Venerable...
but if he could personally spar with one of them, that was still an excellent opportunity.
I wonder how strong he really is.
